Keg - Custom/DIY

Name: Keg - Custom/DIY
Brand: Custom/DIY
Rating: 4.75 (20 reviews)

A strongman training keg is a weighted keg-shaped implement used for loaded carries, cleans, and the keg-toss/keg-load event, and building or repurposing your own is a common and well-documented alternative to buying a purpose-made one. An empty beer keg weighs roughly 20-25 lbs on its own; filled with liquid it runs around 175-185 lbs, and builders load it further with sand, lead shot, or scrap wheel weights to dial in a target weight from around 45 lbs up past 300 lbs. The catch is sourcing a real keg — even an emptied one legally stays the property of the brewery or distributor, so builders typically acquire one by paying cash for the deposit at a restaurant/brewery or through a scrap-metal contact.

For anyone who can’t get a real keg, a documented substitute is a plastic trash can (a Rubbermaid Brute is the commonly cited choice) filled with bagged concrete mixed to an oatmeal-like consistency, which sets in about a day and produces built-in carry handles. Either way, keg loading itself follows a standard technique: tilt the keg onto one corner to deadlift it into a lap position with knees driven forward, then extend the hips to drive it up and tuck it under the chin before sending it up and over the bar (commonly set 48 in for women, 52 in for men in casual training).

Build method	Repurposed beer keg (opened, drained, and refilled) or a DIY substitute — a plastic trash can filled with bagged concrete
Typical weight range	~45-300+ lbs depending on build and fill amount; an empty keg alone weighs ~20-25 lbs, a liquid-filled one ~175-185 lbs
Typical fill material	Sand, lead shot, or scrap wheel weights (real keg); bagged concrete (trash-can substitute)
Typical cure/setup time	Concrete substitute sets in about a day; a real keg needs no cure time once refilled and resealed
Common loading-event bar height	~48 in for women, ~52 in for men in casual/training settings

What is a Strongman?

Strongman equipment trains raw, functional strength through odd-object lifting, carrying, and loading — atlas stones, yokes, farmer’s handles, sleds, logs, and tires — rather than the fixed, balanced resistance of a barbell. It’s a fit for lifters who’ve plateaued on conventional strength training and want to build the grip, bracing, and full-body coordination that competition strongman and functional fitness demand, or who simply want the most direct training carryover to real-world lifting and carrying tasks. Most pieces are bulky and some (tires, natural stones) are sourced or repurposed rather than bought outright, so plan for storage space and, in a few cases, DIY sourcing as part of owning this equipment.

How it compares

	Keg - Custom/DIY	Power Pin	Freedom Strength Atlas Sandbag	Freedom Strength Strongman Sandbag
GymRadar rating	4.75/5	4.75/5	4.75/5	4.75/5
Price		$45.00	$110.99	$78.99
Build method	Repurposed beer keg (opened, drained, and refilled) or a DIY substitute — a plastic trash can filled with bagged concrete
Typical weight range	~45-300+ lbs depending on build and fill amount; an empty keg alone weighs ~20-25 lbs, a liquid-filled one ~175-185 lbs
Typical fill material	Sand, lead shot, or scrap wheel weights (real keg); bagged concrete (trash-can substitute)
Typical cure/setup time	Concrete substitute sets in about a day; a real keg needs no cure time once refilled and resealed
Common loading-event bar height	~48 in for women, ~52 in for men in casual/training settings

4.8/5 · 20 GymRadar reviews

Reviews by source

Expert	4.75/5	20 reviews
Youtube	4.3/5	3 reviews

A DIY strongman keg is a well-documented, cheap way to add loaded carries and keg-toss/keg-load training to a home gym, and independent builders confirm both the genuine-keg route and cheaper substitutes work in practice. Value and versatility are the standouts: an actual beer keg, once acquired, can be opened and refilled with sand, lead shot, or scrap wheel weights to hit almost any target weight from roughly 45 lbs up past 300 lbs, and a builder who can’t source a real keg gets comparable results from an ~$17 Rubbermaid Brute trash can filled with bagged concrete. Build quality and durability are the weak points — there’s no consistent spec across builds, acquiring an actual keg is genuinely difficult (kegs remain the brewery’s property even when empty), and no source tracks how any individual build holds up over repeated loading and dropping.

+Versatility: fillable to a wide range of target weights (~45-300+ lbs) with sand, lead shot, or scrap wheel weights, letting one implement cover multiple training loads (YouTube: Brian Alsruhe)
+Value: a concrete-filled trash can substitute costs around $17-35 in materials total when a real keg isn't available (YouTube: ManelicAfro)
+Functionality: both a genuine keg and the trash-can substitute are confirmed usable for standard strongman keg-load and carry training (YouTube: Brian Alsruhe, ManelicAfro)
+Functionality: keg loading is a well-established strongman event/movement pattern with documented technique standards, not a fringe or improvised exercise (YouTube: Above the Rest Training Systems)

−Build quality: no consistent spec across builds -- weight, fill material, and seal quality vary entirely by what the individual builder used (across all sources)
−Functionality: acquiring an actual beer keg is genuinely hard, since even an emptied keg legally remains the brewery/distributor's property (YouTube: Brian Alsruhe)
−Durability: no long-term durability data exists for any single build, since every source describes a one-off personal project rather than a tracked product (across all sources)
−Build quality: uneven fill material (wet sand, mixed lead shot) can settle unevenly inside the keg and throw off its balance during lifts or throws (FitnessVolt, Lift Big Eat Big)